Art and theater reviews covering Seattle to Olympia, Washington, with other art, literature and personal commentary.
If you want to ask a question about any of the shows reviewed here please email the producing venue (theater or gallery) or email me at alec@alecclayton.com. If you post questions in the comment section the answer might get lost.

Few theater companies in the world have ever produced a long-running series of plays such as Harlequin Production’s Stardust
series. Stardust is a series of stage musicals set during Christmas,
mostly in the same New York nightclub, with loosely connected stories
covering a decade in the lives of many of the same characters. Each
“episode” has been written by Harlowe Reed and features a galaxy of the
best and most popular of local actors across generations, beginning in
1993.

Everybody
knows not to look a gift horse in the mouth. Tacoma Art Museum certainly does. In
this case, the gift horse is a bucking bronco, or lots of them — the 295 works
of Western Art from the Haub Family Collection donated to TAM, plus more than
$15 to build a new wing to house them.

The new
wing designed by Olson Kundig Architects and built by Sellen Construction is
fabulous, the art collection not so much so. It is valuable and pertinent to
the history of the region (probably more so to the Southwest and the Western
plains than to the Pacific Northwest, but let’s not look that bucking bronco in
the mouth), and there are some famous works of art by famous artists. But it is
mostly stereotypical and offers a romanticized look at cowboys and Indians
glorifying America’s imperialistic western expansion.

Typical of
the sculpture that greets visitors as they enter the new Haub Family Wing is
Charles M. Russell’s “A Bronc Twister,” a bronze statue of a cowboy riding a
bucking bronc — the most iconic of all Western images.

Albert
Bierstadt’s “Departure of an Indian War Party” is a somber, dark and dignified
look at a small group of Indians on horseback depicting “noble savages” in a
romanticized and atmospheric landscape.

Many of
the artists never even traveled to the West. Rosa Bonheur’s Western scenes were
based on a Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show seen in Paris and Henry Merwin
Shrady’s bronze buffalo comes from studies made at the Bronx Zoo.

But let it
be known that there are also works by Native American artists and by great
modern artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe. One of the nicest paintings in the
show is O’Keeffe’s “Piñons With Cedar,” a lovely landscape of a ghost-like dead
tree with a young green tree behind it framed by a mountain in the distance.

There are
also pop art paintings by Bill Schenck, who worked with Andy Warhol and later
turned to Western art. His “Snakes in the Grass” lampoons stereotypical Western
art. Done in a paint-by-numbers style, it depicts two cowboys on bucking
broncos on either side of large cacti.

The new
wing and the outdoors sculptures by Julie
Speidel by the entrance from the parking lotandMarieWatt on the Pacific Avenue side of the building
provide for a much more welcoming entrance to the lobby area. But the new
construction emphasizes the new wing and relegates the original galleries to a
far-away area down a long hallway that felt pretty empty on the day I went
there for the opening press tour. I trust that more art will be placed in that
hallway or that something — anything — will be done to draw people to the older
north galleries, because it is the art in those galleries that always has been and
I hope will continue to be what makes Tacoma Art Museum a regional treasure.

Art of the American West: The Haub Family
Collection, Wednesdays–Sundays 10 am–5 pm, Third Thursdays 10
am–8 pm, adults
$10, student/military/senior (65+) $8, family $25 (2 adults and up to 4
children under 18). children 5 and under free, Third Thursdays free from 5-8
pm. Members always free, 1701 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.272.4258.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Ricker Winsor

This is a new feature that I intend to post on a periodic
basis as time allows . . . no schedule. I will start with my old friend Ricker
Winsor.

Star Spangled Buildings, oil on canvas

Ricker has been called a force of nature, which is an apt
description. A Renaissance man is another apt description, because there is
little that Ricker hasn’t done and he continues to do it all well. He’s been a
vagabond, a beatnik, a world traveler. He’s been a hunter and a fly fisherman extraordinaire.
He’s a writer with two published books, Pakuwon City and The Painting of My Life, and he’s a blues musician who plays in
coffee shops and other venues. But most of all, he’s a painter.

When I first met Ricker he was head of the art department at
Charles Wright Academy in Tacoma, and he was living a kind of back-to-nature existence
on Vashon Island. Today he teaches school in Bali. There’s no telling what he
might do next.

Ricker’s art has grown out of the abstract expressionist
tradition. In his youth he lived in New York and was friends with many of the
first generation abstract expressionist painters. The artwork he was doing when
I first met him consisted of highly energetic and colorful landscapes and
similarly expressive pen and ink drawings of the island landscape, self-portraits
and interior scenes of his studio. His mark-making was volatile, his colors —
especially the yellows and greens of flora and sunshine — were intense. Both
his drawings and paintings reminded me a lot of Vincent van Gogh.

More recently he turned to abstract painting with paintings
reminiscent of Hans Hoffman. And more recently still he has continued in the
Hoffman-like vein with highly abstracted urban scenes — rectangular forms in
heavy impasto that vacillate between pure abstraction and clusters of
buildings. These are dense, rich paintings with lushly applied paint. I suspect
that as he continues to develop his art he will continue to go back and forth
between abstract paintings and impressionist/expressionist landscapes, figures
and interior scenes.

I must admit,
however, that my enjoyment of this exhibition was based to some small measure
on nostalgia. I was in my sophomore or junior year as an art student when pop
burst on the scene back in the early sixties, and it was an eye-popping,
mind-bending, psychedelic trip. The very idea that serious artists could paint
pictures of soup cans and comic book images and make giant soft sculptures of
drum sets or a giant cherry perched in a giant spoon was the most radical thing
ever. It bothered me a little that the pop artists were said to be in revolt
against abstract expressionism, which I loved, but pop still floated my boat.

Hard on pop’s
heel came what was called hard edge painting: Ellsworth Kelly and Al Held and —
oh my god — Frank Stella. That era in American art history had to have been the
most exciting time ever. And yesterday I saw it all, all over again.

“Pop
Departures” is a look back at work by the leading pop artists of the 1960s and
a jump forward to more contemporary artists such as Jeff Koons, Margarita
Cabrera and Mickalene Thomas who continue to follow in the footsteps of those ’60s
bad boys.

There are
whole galleries devoted to Lichtenstein and Warhol, unquestionably the
brightest lights of the movement. Other artists represented in the show include
Oldenberg, Mel Ramos, Edward Ruscha, Robert Indiana and James Rosenquist
(inadequately represented by a single modest-sized painting).

Lichtenstein
dominates the first gallery with some of his most iconic images such as “Kiss
V,” one of his many paintings of romance comic images; “Varoom,” a comic-style
explosion in and garish red, yellow and orange with lettering; and “Red
Painting (Brush Stroke),” one of his famous paintings of an
abstract-expressionist brush stroke. (See, they weren’t rebelling against AE,
they revered it.) Lichtenstein’s brushstroke paintings were done to honor the
abstract expressionists whom he venerated while at the same time giving them
little digs — see, we can paint big, sloppy brushstrokes too, never mind
that they were done with mechanical precision.

Lichtenstein’s
early paintings have lost none of their power over the years and have gained
stature as pure design.

In another
gallery are two of his paintings of famous modernist paintings, the best of
these being “Reflections on Painter and Model,” his copy in stripes and Ben-Day
dots of a Picasso painting. This is a marvelously composed picture that is,
like his brushstrokes, a lampoon of and homage to a hero.

The many
Warhols in this show evidence just how expressive Warhol could be, despite his
use of mechanical means and his claim to want to be a machine. How well I
remember folks in the sixties saying Warhol was putting us on, that he wasn’t a
serious artist, that his fame would quickly fade. Fifty years later it is kind
of hard to support such claims. I suspect that many of the people who
denigrated Warhol’s art had never seen it other than in reproduction. When you
look at them closely it becomes obvious that his off-register silk screens were
just as expressive as many of the action paintings of the previous generation.
And what he did with color was simply astounding. Look at the milky green
blending to blue and the lemon yellow lips on the face of Richard Nixon in his
painting “McGovern.” These are indescribable colors that only Warhol could come
up with (and yes, it is a portrait of Nixon with the name McGovern written
across the bottom).

Installation
shot of Juan Alonso Studio, courtesy the artist.

The one
painting by Wayne Thiebaud was a terrific example of his lush paint
application. I wish there were more of his paintings. He was always seen as on
the periphery of pop, more of a classical painter, but his subject matter fit
right in, and man could he ever paint. And since this show “departs” from the
first wave of pop to feature later developments, it would have been nice if one
of his much later San Francisco cityscapes had been included.

My least
favorite among the first generation pop artists in this show is Ramos. Clever
titles like “Val Veeta” (a naked pin-up girl on top of a box of Velveeta
cheese, note the spelling) do not erase the fact that his pin-up girls are just
as sexist as the commercialization of sex he supposedly lampooned. There are a
number of his paintings in this show, and they are not impressive.

Among the
best of the most contemporary works is Cabrera’s “Vocho (Yellow),” an
actual-size, beat-up yellow Volkswagen Beetle made of vinyl, batting, thread
and car parts including real bumper and tail lights. The loosely hanging
threads in the car lend a house-of-horrors aspect to the car. It reminds me of
some of Edward Kienholz’s installations. Obviously influenced by Oldenberg,
this is a more powerful piece than any of the Oldenberg’s in the show (his
sculptures look best in situ and these look weak in a gallery setting).

Another of
the more outstanding recent works is Barbara Kruger’s portrait of Andy Warhol,
“untitled (Not cruel enough).” This wall size portrait, 109” x 109”, would be
indistinguishable from a self-portrait by Andy if it were not for the insulting
descriptors printed all around and across the face — unflattering things others
have called Warhol.

“Pop
Departures” is but one of many shows at SAM. I wandered into the galleries
featuring modern and contemporary works from the permanent collection and
enjoyed once again seeing paintings by Arshile Gorky and Jackson Pollock and a
couple of great Hans Hoffmans. I was blown away by two large Frank Stella
paintings and opposite them a wall-size painting by Al Held. One gallery had a
wall full of small paintings by Held, each about a foot square. We always think
of his paintings as being slick, flat and precise, but the paint application on
these looked like plaster spread with a trowel.

“American Art
Masterworks” includes a selection of works by early American masters including
John Singer Sargent, Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer and many more — dark and
somber works to counteract the glitz of the pop art.

“City
Dwellers: Contemporary Art from India” offered interesting views on mostly
sculpture and photography by contemporary Indian artists. "Include Me
Out," an amazingly dense photo-montage by Vivek Vilasinia and "India
Shining V (Gandhi with iPod) by Debnjan Roy, a striking bright red fiberglass
sculpture of Gandhi walking with an iPod in hand stand out, as does "Untiled
(Self in Progress)" byAlwar Balasubramaniam, a haunting image in white of a seated figure with face and
legs buried into a wall and projecting out the other side.

After leaving
SAM drove to Pioneer Square to visit the Juan Alonso Studio on Washington Street. Juan Alonso-Rodriguez was represented by the Francine Seders Gallery until it
closed. He has now joined the ranks of DIY artists who are marketing their own
work and opening their studios to the public. His latest work is a series of
abstract paintings with horizontal bands or stripes, many in brilliant colors
and often with abstract expressionist drips and slashes confined within forms
that are essentially minimalist and hard-edge, thus striking an exciting
balance between the two strongest movements in abstraction during the second
half of the 20th century. These are some of the more vibrant
paintings I have seen in a long time.

I thoroughly
enjoyed my day at SAM and Alonso-Rodriquez’s studio and highly recommend you
visit both when you can.

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Over the past
year Salon Refu has established itself as the edgiest art gallery in Olympia,
if not the edgiest south of Seattle. But being in the avant garde is not enough
for gallery owner Susan Christian; she also insists that the art in her gallery
be skillfully crafted — no carelessly thrown-together art for this gallery.

And that
brings us to the current installation by ceramicist Joe Blatt, which is outstanding
in almost all aspects but slightly thrown-together in some small parts.

For some time
now I’ve been fascinated with Batt’s strangely anthropomorphized animals and
child-animal hybrids. Now he offers a complete environment comprised of ceramic
children and charcoal drawings. It’s a world of satellites and cellular phones
— surreal and futuristic, yet very much the world we live in, a world in which
everyone is connected via satellite, in which every hand holds a smart phone and
heads, eyes and brains become television monitors.

Batt creates
this world by placing ceramic children throughout the gallery, some on
sculpture stands, a couple on ladders. Most are unpainted red clay, but there
are spots of color here and there, such as the little girl with yellow pigtails
and a pink jacket walking in too-large high heel shoes. There are children
whose faces become view-screens, children that are cute and loveable and
simultaneously horrifying.

Hanging from
the ceiling are satellites and satellite dishes, while others hang on the wall,
some drawn in charcoal on paper and others drawn directly on the walls. As a
final strange touch, little cut-out clouds in charcoal on Foam Core board are
scattered about the floor along with broken keyboards made of ceramics.

The marvel of
all this is how beautifully and humorously the ceramic sculptures and charcoal
drawings contrast and harmonize with one another in content as well as style
work. In many ways this may be one of the most completely realized
installations I’ve seen in a long time. While studying the show I kept
thinking, “ET, call home,” but in this case it was everybody call ET.

This
installation is funny, inventive, and a telling commentary on contemporary
society (and perhaps a dire warning of a future in which people are
indistinguishable from their technological devices).

But now I
have to mention the hastily thrown-together aspect that I alluded to in the
opening. Although the charcoal drawings on paper are exquisite, those drawn
directly on the wall are crude and look unfinished, as if the texture of the
wall presented a challenge the artist was not up to or as if he did not give
himself enough time to finish them. And the little cloud formations on the
floor are silly and uninteresting. Having said that, I now must say this is an
installation like no other and you really should see it.

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About Me

I am an artist and writer living in Olympia, Washington. I write an art review column, a theater review column and arts features for the Weekly Volcano, a community theater review column for The (Tacoma) News Tribune and regular arts features for OLY ARTS (Olympia).
My published novels are: This Is Me, Debbi, David; Tupelo; The Freedom Trilogy (a three-book series consisting of The Backside of Nowhere, Return to Freedom and Visual Liberties); Reunion at the Wetside; The Wives of Marty Winters; Imprudent Zeal and Until the Dawn. I've also published a book on art, As If Art Matters. All are available on amazon.com.
I grew up in Tupelo and Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and have been living in the Pacific Northwest since 1988 where I am active in many progressive organizations such as PFLAG (Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays).